letter

The legend that is Emma Thompson has written to the producers of her latest film Luck explaining why she refuses to work with John Lasseter, who Skydance Media have hired despite allegations of sexual misconduct.

The letter was shared with the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, and makes plain Thompson’s extreme discomfort with Lasseter being tied to her new project.

Lasseter left Pixar last year following multiple allegations of inappropriate behaviour and misconduct, and his new employment raises ethical questions.

The veteran actress emphasises that Lasseter’s admitting to “inappropriate hugging” and “other missteps” was insufficient remorse to offer him such a prestigious second chance

According to her, he realised the error of his ways or because it was politic and beneficial for him to do so, not because he has grown as a person.

She asks should women not be the ones to decide whether they want to work with him;

“If a man has been touching women inappropriately for decades, why would a woman want to work for him if the only reason he’s not touching them inappropriately now is that it says in his contract that he must behave ‘professionally’?”

Thompson expresses her sadness that she has to quit the project, as she has huge admiration and respect for the film's director, but needs to stand up for the sake of her daughter's generation.

“I am well aware that centuries of entitlement to women’s bodies whether they like it or not is not going to change overnight. Or in a year,” she writes.

“But I am also aware that if people who have spoken out- like me- do not take this sort of a stand then things are very unlikely to change at anything like the pace required to protect my daughter’s generation.

She continues; “It feels very odd to me that you and your company would consider hiring someone with Mr. Lasseter’s pattern of misconduct given the present climate in which people with the kind of power that you have can reasonably be expected to step up to the plate."

“If a man has made women at his companies feel undervalued and disrespected for decades, why should the women at his new company think that any respect he shows them is anything other than an act that he’s required to perform by his coach, his therapist, and his employment agreement?” the Nanny McPhee actress wrote.

“The message seems to be, ‘I am learning to feel respect for women so please be patient while I work on it. It’s not easy.’” Lasseter has a reputation for turning Pixar into a boys club.

She also pointed out the unfair situation of Skydance Media workers who feel discomfort about working with him.

“How much money are the employees at Skydance being paid to GIVE him that second chance?” Thompson wrote, noting that he presumably profited from his Pixar settlement.

“If John Lasseter started his own company, then every employee would have been given the opportunity to choose whether or not to give him a second chance. But any Skydance employees who don’t want to give him a second chance have to stay and be uncomfortable or lose their jobs. Shouldn’t it be John Lasseter who has to lose HIS job if the employees don’t want to give him a second chance?”

“Given all the abuse that’s been heaped on women who have come forward to make accusations against powerful men, do we really think that no settlements means that there was no harassment or no hostile work environment?” Thompson wrote.

“Are we supposed to feel comforted that women who feel that their careers were derailed by working for Lasseter DIDN’T receive money?” she said, reminding us that his accusers never received any compensation if the claims were true.

Ariana Grande is releasing a new docu-series, Dangerous Woman Diaries, in which she opens up about her emotions surrounding the "horrendous" terrorist bombing at her concert in Manchester last year.

Grande has spoken before about how the event has forever changed her, and she has now penned a letter expressing her devastation one year on from the heart-breaking tragedy.

The global pop sensation had only just finished her set at the Manchester Arena in May of 2017 when a bomb was detonated in the foyer, killing 22 people as they were leaving the concert and injuring another 500.

She has chosen to share a highly personal letter to her fans, and the series has already released four episodes, the final one depicting her pain and sorrow after the incident.

"I'm writing to you this February 22, 2018," she writes. "It's been eight months since the attack at our show at the Manchester Arena. It's impossible to know where to start or to know what to say about this part."

"May 22, 2017, will leave me speechless and filled with questions for the rest of my life."

"Music is an escape," she continued. "Music is the safest thing I've ever known. Music—pop music, stan culture—is something that brings people together, introduces them to some of their best friends, and makes them feel like they can be themselves."

"It is comfort. It is fun. It is expression. It is happiness. It is the last thing that would ever harm someone. It is safe."

"When something so opposite and so poisonous takes place in your world that is supposed to be everything but that…It is shocking and heartbreaking in a way that seems impossible to fully recover from."

Though Grande was thankfully unharmed physically in the attack, she has described her symptoms of PTSD following the bombing.

She boarded a private plan to Florida, so she could be with her grandmother, before co-organising the One Love Manchester concert for victims and their families, where herself and then-boyfriend Mac Miller performed.

Her fans will now get a behind -the-scenes look at the concert, with footage of Ari singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow to be aired.

Her letter went on to preach about the power of not letting hate win in times like these:

"The spirit of the people of Manchester, the families affected by this horrendous tragedy, and my fans around the world have permanently impacted all of us for the rest of our lives. Their love, strength, and unity showed me, my team, my dancers, band, and entire crew not to be defeated."

"To continue during the scariest and saddest of times. To not let hate win. But instead, love as loudly as possible, and to appreciate every moment."

The Lord Mayor of Dublin has taken to Twitter to tell the people of Dublin that they have a special place in the heart of a man who recently visited the Irish capital.

Mark from Lancashire composed a letter which paid tribute to the people he encountered during a recent trip to Dublin – a message which was swiftly shared by Mícheál MacDonncha.

Recalling the events of September 9, 10 and 11 this year, Mark explained that he collapsed on Leeson Street after suffering a brain injury, and was treated with the utmost care, respect and understanding by everyone from the emergency services to the hotel management.

Posting an image of the letter he received, the Lord Mayor wrote: "I received a lovely letter from Mark in Lancashire who asked me to thank people of Dublin, esp the Emergency Services, who helped him after he suffered a brain injury on 11th September."

I received a lovely letter from Mark in Lancashire who asked me to thank people of Dublin, esp the Emergency Services, who helped him after he suffered a brain injury on 11th September. He is very grateful all in Dublin who were so friendly and thoughtful to him and his partner. pic.twitter.com/MAxoKf7Z88

"He is very grateful all in Dublin who were so friendly and thoughtful to him and his partner."

Mark writes: "I would like to thank everyone in Dublin who attended to me and helped my partner in the awful days after the accident, the Ambulance Service, St. James Hospital and Beaumont Hospital where I had an operation for a bleed on my brain, the Central Hotel on Talbot St, who free of charge let my partner stay for a night."

"I cannot explain how grateful I am to the people of Dublin who have been the most friendly and thoughtful people I have ever met and you must be so proud to be the mayor of such a wonderful city."

"I would be grateful if you could pass on my appreciation to the people of Dublin in any way you can."

"The only reason I’ve toured is you. I’m not sure if touring is my bag,” she added.

And it now looks as though Adele os finally ready to leave the stage behind for good. Preferring to leave on a high, the singer has previously described this tour as her “greatest accomplishment in [her] career”, adding, “It's changed my life.”

Kicking off the final shows of her current world tour at London's Wembley Stadium on Wednesday night, Adele reportedly slipped hand written notes into some of the tour programs.

"So this is it after 15 months on the road and 18 months of 25 we are at the end. We have taken this tour across UK + Ireland, throughout Europe, all over America and I finally got to go to Australia and New Zealand too. Touring is a peculiar thing, it doesn't suit me particularly well. I'm a real homebody and I get so much joy in the small things. Plus I'm dramatic and have a terrible history of touring. Until now that is!

I've done 119 shows and these last 4 will take me up to 123, it has been hard out an absolute thrill and pleasure to have done. I only ever did this tour for you and to hopefully have an impact on you the way that some of my favourite artist have had on me live. And I wanted my final shows to be in London because I don't know if I'll ever tour again and so I want my last time to be at home. Thank you for coming, for all of your ridiculous love and kindness. I will remember all of this for the rest of my life. Love you. Goodnight for now."

Last night was just the first of Adele's Wembley performances so it is still unclear as to whether she will make a formal announcement following the final show.

We also don't know what this means for the future of Adele's music career. Could 25 be the last album from the London songstress?

To mark Mother's Day in America, fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham wrote a lovely open letter in Time to all four of her children, Brooklyn, 16, Romeo, 12, Cruz, 10,and Harper, 3. She started by saying: "Being a mother is simply the greatest achievement of my life." and went on to declare her love for her children.

Despite being extremely famous and wealthy, Victoria and David seem very realistic in their hopes for their children's futures. She explained: "Being in a position where they live such a privileged life, it is important that our children understand humility, that they appreciate how their parents have worked very hard to create this life for the family and that they, too, have a responsibility to work hard, be respectful and never, ever take anything for granted."

"I hope that I, together with their father, inspire them to dream big and be the best version of themselves that they can be," she admitted.

Victoria wasn't the only one to express her love, as Brooklyn took to Instagram to share a sweet snap of himself and his mum for Mother's Day.

David McIntosh, former fiancé of Kelly Brook has spoken out about a story printed about him in The Sun newspaper yesterday.

The story reported that David had been cheating on Kelly with his ex-girlfriend, Sarah Harper, as well as allegations of drug use.

David has now issued an open letter, which tells his side of the story as well as declaring his love for Kelly, with whom he split on Friday.

David says in his letter that while he did go on a few nights out with Sarah before dating Kelly, but said that they were never together at that time: “I can confirm that Sarah and I did go on a handful of nights but it was NOT on a regular basis … Our so-called ‘closeness’ lasted for about four months, after which her constant partying and (self-admitting) drug use grew very tiring.”

The former Gladiator also denied drug use, despite a photo that appeared in the paper: “In today’s article in The Sun, there is a picture of me purportedly ‘posing’ over what appears to be whitle powder on a table. I did not take any drugs on the night … I merely (and in hindsight, very stupidly) posed for a “fun” picture at Sarah’s request. I was clearly intoxicated with alcohol in the picture and acted naively.”

Finally, David makes a bid for Kelly, declaring his love for her, saying: “I did not cheat on Kelly what so ever! Kelly is my World and, other than my son, she’s the only person I’ve ever truly cared about in my life … Since being with Kelly, I’ve been so happy. I’ve been focused and working hard to become the best man I can be. I’m absolutely devastated that Sarah’s lies have caused Kelly to end our engagement but am even more deeply upset that the woman I thought loved me and was literally me life would not stand by me.”

He also took to Twitter after the letter's release and thanked his supported:

David certainly sounds like a very sorry man – but will it be enough for Kelly to take him back?

Ellen Page has hit back at a Pastor who wrote her a letter denouncing her sexuality.

The 27-year-old wrote on her Twitter page: “2 da Pastor who wrote me-Being gay isn’t a belief.My soul isnt struggling& I don’t want arms of Heavenly Father around me. A girls arms? Yes. [sic]”

The post has been retweeted over 5,500 times and favourited by nearly 11,000 followers.

The Juno star publicly came out while speaking at an event in Las Vegas to promote the welfare of the LGBT community, saying: “I’m here today because I am gay. And because maybe I can make a difference. To help others have an easier and more hopeful time. Regardless, for me, I feel a personal obligation and a social responsibility.”

The Canadian actress added: “It’s weird because here I am, an actress, representing—at least in some sense—an industry that places crushing standards on all of us. Not just young people, but everyone.

After coming out, the actress thanked her fans for their support, saying: “Just wanted to take a moment to say how moved I am by all the support. I feel profoundly grateful right now. xxxx.”